1,630 research outputs found
Half-wave Plates for the Spider Cosmic Microwave Background Polarimeter
Spider is a balloon-borne array of six telescopes that will observe the
Cosmic Microwave Background. The 2400 antenna-coupled bolometers in the
instrument will make a polarization map of the CMB with ~degree resolution at
150 GHz and 95 GHz. Polarization modulation is achieved via a cryogenic
sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) skyward of the primary optic. In this thesis,
the design, construction, and lab testing of the HWP system are discussed. The
polarization modulation of these optical stacks is modeled using a physical
optics calculation and Mueller matrices. Performance tests in both the lab and
integrated in the flight cryostat show consistency with the model.Comment: 165 pages, PhD Thesi
Couple and family therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: The objectives of this review will be to: assess the efficacy of couple and family therapies for adult PTSD, relative to 'no treatment' conditions, 'standard care', and structured or non‐specific individual psychological therapies; examine the clinical characteristics of studies that influence the relative efficacy of these therapies; and critically evaluate methodological features of studies that bias research findings
User-Relative Names for Globally Connected Personal Devices
Nontechnical users who own increasingly ubiquitous network-enabled personal
devices such as laptops, digital cameras, and smart phones need a simple,
intuitive, and secure way to share information and services between their
devices. User Information Architecture, or UIA, is a novel naming and
peer-to-peer connectivity architecture addressing this need. Users assign UIA
names by "introducing" devices to each other on a common local-area network,
but these names remain securely bound to their target as devices migrate.
Multiple devices owned by the same user, once introduced, automatically merge
their namespaces to form a distributed "personal cluster" that the owner can
access or modify from any of his devices. Instead of requiring users to
allocate globally unique names from a central authority, UIA enables users to
assign their own "user-relative" names both to their own devices and to other
users. With UIA, for example, Alice can always access her iPod from any of her
own personal devices at any location via the name "ipod", and her friend Bob
can access her iPod via a relative name like "ipod.Alice".Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, 1 tabl
Element Abundances in a Gas-rich Galaxy at z = 5: Clues to the Early Chemical Enrichment of Galaxies
Element abundances in high-redshift quasar absorbers offer excellent probes
of the chemical enrichment of distant galaxies, and can constrain models for
population III and early population II stars. Recent observations indicate that
the sub-damped Lyman-alpha (sub-DLA) absorbers are more metal-rich than DLA
absorbers at redshifts 03. It has also been suggested that the DLA
metallicity drops suddenly at 4.7. However, only 3 DLAs at 4.5 and
none at 3.5 have "dust-free" metallicity measurements of undepleted
elements. We report the first quasar sub-DLA metallicity measurement at
3.5, from detections of undepleted elements in high-resolution data for a
sub-DLA at =5.0. We obtain fairly robust abundances of C, O, Si, and Fe,
using lines outside the Lyman-alpha forest. This absorber is metal-poor, with
O/H]=-2.000.12, which is 4 below the level expected from
extrapolation of the trend for 3.5 sub-DLAs. The C/O ratio is
1.8 times lower than in the Sun. More strikingly, Si/O is
3.2 times lower than in the Sun, while Si/Fe is nearly
(1.2 times) solar. This absorber does not display a clear
alpha/Fe enhancement. Dust depletion may have removed more Si from the gas
phase than is common in the Milky Way interstellar medium, which may be
expected if high-redshift supernovae form more silicate-rich dust. C/O and Si/O
vary substantially between different velocity components, indicating spatial
variations in dust depletion and/or early stellar nucleosynethesis (e.g.,
population III star initial mass function). The higher velocity gas may trace
an outflow enriched by early stars.Comment: 42 pages including 9 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Implications of gambling problems for family and interpersonal adjustment:Results from the Quinte Longitudinal Study
AIMS: To evaluate (1) whether gambling problems predict overall trajectories of change in family or interpersonal adjustment and (2) whether annual measures of gambling problems predict time-specific decreases in family or interpersonal adjustment, concurrently and prospectively. DESIGN: The Quinte Longitudinal Study (QLS) involved random-digit dialling of telephone numbers around the city of Belleville, Canada to recruit 'general population' and 'at-risk' groups (the latter oversampling people likely to develop problems). Five waves of assessment were conducted (2006-10). Latent Trajectory Modelling (LTM) estimated overall trajectories of family and interpersonal adjustment, which were predicted by gambling problems, and also estimated how time-specific problems predicted deviations from these trajectories. SETTING: Southeast Ontario, Canada. PARTICIPANTS: Community sample of Canadian adults (n = 4121). MEASUREMENTS: The Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) defined at-risk gambling (ARG: PGSI 1-2) and moderate-risk/problem gambling (MR/PG: PGSI 3+). Outcomes included: (1) family functioning, assessed using a seven-point rating of overall functioning; (2) social support, assessed using items from the Non-support subscale of the Personality Assessment Inventory; and (3) relationship satisfaction, measured by the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. FINDINGS: Baseline measures of ARG and MR/PG did not predict rates of change in trajectories of family or interpersonal adjustment. Rather, the annual measures of MR/PG predicted time-specific decreases in family functioning (estimate: -0.11, P < 0.01), social support (estimate: -0.28, P < 0.01) and relationship satisfaction (estimate: -0.53, P < 0.01). ARG predicted concurrent levels of family functioning (estimate: -0.07, P < 0.01). There were time-lagged effects of MR/PG on subsequent levels of family functioning (estimate: -0.12, P < 0.01) and social support (estimate: -0.24, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In a longitudinal study of Canadian adults, moderate-risk/problem gambling did not predict overall trajectories of family or interpersonal adjustment. Rather, the annual measures of moderate-risk/problem gambling predicted time-specific and concurrent decreases in all outcomes, and lower family functioning and social support across adjacent waves
Up Schitt’s Creek?: Comedy as a slantwise pedagogical encounter with queerness
Pedagogical approaches to learning about LGBTQI+ themes and experiences remain a largely under-studied topic in teacher education. In response to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to offer reflections on the pedagogical value of comedy for exploring such themes and experiences in teacher education, focusing especially on the situational comedy (sitcom) Schitt’s Creek. We suggest that the sitcom offers teacher education an opportunity for ‘slantwise’ pedagogical encounters with LGBTQI+ themes and experiences, i.e., non-affronting encounters that resist damage-centred narratives of LGBTQI+ people and are open to multiple queer futures. In exploring how the sitcom offers teacher educators and student teachers these kinds of encounters, we provide a reading of three episodes of Schitt’s Creek through a ‘queer utopian’ lens. We accompany this analysis with prompts for teacher educators to use in discussing these episodes in the teacher education classroom. The piece concludes with some thoughts on the significance of comedy for exploring the relationship between affect, education, and social justice more generally
Camera Stabilizer
The goal of this project is to create an affordable camera stabilizer (the “stabilizer”) for consumers to use with cell phones or GoPro cameras. The stabilizer compensates for two axes, pitch and roll, as well as vertical movement. The system (currently only compatible with one cell phone model) is handheld and uses a combination of brushless DC motors, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and a microcontroller to compensate for the operator’s movements, stabilizing the phone for nonshaky, high quality video recording. The stabilizer provides a lowcost alternative to professional stabilization solutions employed in the production of featurelength films; the system is designed for amateur video producers and enthusiasts to have access to physical camera stabilization. The final system is also intended to provide higher quality stabilization than the rudimentary physical (i.e. springs and counterweights) or software (postproduction) solutions available now. The stabilizer should run on 11.1V LiPo or NiMH batteries and require essentially no input from the user; only an “on” switch or plugging in the batteries should be necessary
How social housing tenants respond when their homes are made more energy efficient. ESRI Research Bulletin 2019/05
Social housing is an important form of support for many vulnerable households. As well as requiring physical accommodation, these households also need heating, lighting and other basic services. The social welfare system provides many people with income supports, but there are also targeted measures to help with particular aspects of housing quality. This study examined the effects of subsidies that are mainly intended to improve household energy efficiency but which confer multiple benefits on vulnerable households. Our aim was to learn more about how social housing tenants react to these measures; in particular, when social housing is made more energy efficient, do the tenants tend to reduce their spending on energy services or do they maintain their spending and enjoy more thermal comfort? Both of these behaviours offer benefits to the households, but the balance between them has implications for the achievement of other public policy objectives. For example, reducing energy use would advance climate policy goals, while taking more thermal comfort should improve public health
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